How to Find or Calculate Square Feet in a Room or Yard

Calculating the square footage of a space is just like a basic geometry problem from middle school. The term "square footage" means the same thing as "area," and the only formulas you need are the formulas you used in school to find the areas of different shapes. If the room or yard isn't a square or rectangle, divide the space into shapes you recognize so you can apply the area formulas for those shapes to the space you want to measure.

Measuring tape
Graph paper
Pencil
Ruler
Compass
Calculator

Instructions

- 1
  Measure each wall of the room or border of the yard. Using a ruler and compass, draw a scale sketch of the space on a piece of graph paper to help you visualize its shape. Use each square on the graph paper to represent 1 square foot.
- 2
  Divide the sketch into geometric shapes such as rectangles, squares, triangles, circles and ellipses. Use the squares on the paper to determine the length, width, height, base or radius of each shape.
- 3
  Calculate the square footage of each shape using the geometric formula for its area. For squares and rectangles, multiply the length by the width. For triangles, multiply the base by the height, then divide the answer by 2. For circles, square the radius, then multiply the square by 3.14; if the shape is a semicircle, then divide the answer by 2. For an ellipse, multiply the two radii together, then multiply the answer by 3.14; if the shape is only half an ellipse, then divide the product by 2.
- 4
  Add the areas of all the shapes. The sum is the total square footage for the room or yard.

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